Last Tuesday the federal government announced that the General Services Administration (GSA) will launch a pilot program to incorporate plug-in electric vehicles into the Federal fleet. The GSA manages over 600,000 federal government vehicles, coast to coast, and is the nation’s largest vehicle operator.
Initially the GSA will purchase 116 electric vehicles, including the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf, and Think City EV. These plug-in vehicles are highly energy efficient and cheap to operate. According to DOE and EPA data, the Leaf, powered by electricity, costs roughly $0.94 to drive 25 miles.
These cars will go to 20 agencies, including the Department of Energy, and will be located in Washington, DC; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; San Diego, CA; and San Francisco, CA. President Obama also directed federal agencies to ensure purchases of cars and light trucks vehicles are 100% “alternative fueled vehicles, such as hybrid or electric, compressed natural gas, or biofuel” by 2015.
The GSA already has more than 9,000 hybrid-electric vehicles in its fleet. Yesterday’s announcement by the GSA is another important step in this direction to cut government fleet fuel use and incentivize automakers to produce highly efficient, low cost fuel vehicles, in greater quantity, bringing down the cost for all Americans.
This blog was authored by Brian Kauffman, NRDC intern